Dust Bomb on April 1rst 2011 at the Meet Factory in Prague

Usually, I would put this in the film clip section of my website, but for me this is a kind of moving photograph. This is a very short video clip that I filmed on April 1rst at the 31rst Einsturzende Neubauten Anniversary at the Meet Factory in Prague. I am posting it to give some quick feeling of what had happened that night. I was asked to film and take photographs that night. The night started really well with Alexander Hacke and Andrew Chudy drumming on stage. They then invited the audience to join them playing drums which turned into a massive improvised drumming onstage and off the stage, with various drums and metal objects to beat on. There were some great images and sounds. Later, Jochen Arbeit played a solo set with guitar and electronics.

After awhile, Alexander came on stage and started to play a frenzied electronic set that was engulfed in a foggy smoke emitted by several fog machines. He kept screaming, "More Fog! More Fog!"

Alexander soon got much more than fog. I was filming Alexander. I turned and watched a spastic manic dancer in the fog. I liked the image and started filming him. I then heard a big bang and saw a huge white cloud of smoke passing through the crowd and it then engulfed the dancer. I thought it was more fog and liked the image of the dancer and fog, but very quickly I was also engulfed in the powder cloud. I breathed in a powdery substance that tasted like chemicals. People around me started to cough and gag. People quickly started to move toward the exit. When I could finally see much clearer, I saw people covered in a whitish grey dusty powder. People were walking in a daze like zombies with this grey crusted powder on them. I was going to film the people and then I saw my cameras completely covered with the layers of the powder. I suddenly went into shock with the sudden realization that my cameras and equipment might be totally destroyed. I then became a zombie and walked in a daze with the rest of the people. Danielle De Picciotto stopped me and asked me what had happened. I couldn't talk. Steve Morell grabbed me and led me through a hall and then up the stairs to the Meet Factory office.

Alexander Hacke later joined us with some of the equipment that he had on stage. It was also covered with the powder. Alexander was on the stage for too long without knowing what had happened. Danielle went onstage and got him out of the room. He was ill for awhile and then threw up. He was a smart one and didn't have the powder inside him any more. All of us were in that office till six in the morning. One group of police came and we made a police report. A second group of police came, photographs were taken of all of the equipment and the value of each item was told. The owners and all who worked at the Meet Factory were helpful and supportive. They brought us drinks and did their best to make us feel better. We found out that some drunk idiot released a powder bomb of sorts in the form of a fire extinguisher which is usually used to put out electrical fires. The whole room was covered in this powder including the Meet Factory's expensive sound system and sound board.

I had to leave my cameras and equipment there. The Meet Factory people had me sign some papers and told me that they would take the equipment to a professional service where it all would be cleaned. I got to sleep at 7am. My weekend was destroyed and I kept worrying that all cameras etc would be destroyed because powder got inside of the equipment. I was also worried that even though it would be cleaned, three months down the line the cameras could break down. The Meet Factory was very professional throughout. They called me on Monday and told me that they took it to the service. Tuesday, they kept me informed and I was able to pick up the equipment at the Meet Factory on Wednesday. We went through everything with the equipment. It all was thoroughly cleaned and all seemed well. They promised that if anything went wrong within several months or more, to contact them and they would take care of it. So, all in all, I must say that the Meet Factory did all that they could under the circumstances and that I appreciate it.

The police had arrested the idiot who did it. Apparently he was upset that the band wasn't playing even though it was clearly stated that only several band members would be doing solo performances. I have since heard that after the powder bomb thingy exploded, people were standing around outside and various people loudly argued about the event. Some people were one hundred per cent sure that it was all purposely done by members of Einsturzende Neubauten and that it was all for the sake of art. Some people were even saying that it was the ultimate industrial art statement and that it was brilliant.